The Snack Bar was halfway between the barracks and Base Comm. At about the same time, approximately 15 enemy 122mm rockets struck an artillery complex in the 11th Marines Northern Sector Defense Command which included a detachment from the 1st Armored Amphibian Company, the 155mm Gun and 8-inch Gun Batteries, as well as Batteries H, 3rd Battalion, 11th Marines and M, 4th Battalion, 11th Marines. Shortly after midnight on July 15, 1967, Da Nang Air Base in Quang Nam Province, RVN, came under a heavy rocket attack. **** TET 1968 PAVN battalions from the 2nd Division had eluded the Korean and ARVN defenses in the southern sector and had penetrated the defensive perimeter of the 2/3 Marines and 3/5 Marines just below the Air Base. Photographer: Unknown Nng Air Base, AKA: Rocket City, often had more than six Silk-Moons of false dawn orbiting the base. Archives. By daybreak, the engineers held their own and the situation in Hi An was at a stalemate. The Flightline, Funny Money, Rocket shrapnel. Flares light up the Da Nang area to make it easier to spot infiltrating guerrillas. The battalion's Company B, however, in an operation with a CAP in two hamlets on the Tiensha Peninsula or Da Nang East, surprised a VC force in two hamlets north of Marble Mountain. mms, from May of 69 to May of 70. The lead column consisted of about 100 to 150 men, followed by the main body. About two-and-a-half hours later, the VC units "ceased fire and withdrew." According to Davis, a few hours later, Robertson called a division briefing for all battalion commanders. Some 36 of the large missiles landed on the main base, including the airfield. CAP Q-4 there continued to hold out. Aircraft destroyed included F-4 Phantom II's \u0026 C-130's. English: A damaged U.S. Marine Corps Grumman A-6A Intruderof Marine All-Weather Attack Squadron 242 (VMA(AW)-242) "Bats" at Da Nang Air Base, Vietnam, 30 January 1968. This should include information pertaining to the rocket and mortar attacks at the Da Nang Air base from April 1967 to May 1968, to include any attacks occurring on or about July 14, 1967. At Da Nang, III MAF knew that the PAVN/VC were on the move. The RF/PF suffered 1 PF killed and 10 wounded. Local villagers told the Marines that at least one VC had been killed in the brief skirmish. Marble Mountain Air Facility supported USMC helicopter operations throughout southern I Corps. ** The first two attacks on DaNang were by mortars. He and Randall agreed that they would deploy one of the battalion's two reserve provisional Quick Reaction platoons composed of headquarters personnel. Rummage reported about 50 PAVN dead with another 100 "probable." According to Marine intelligence sources, Rummage may well "have rendered a reinforced battalion combat ineffective, forcing the enemy to modify his plans at a critical time." "[1]:163, During the Tet Offensive in Da Nang, both sides experienced heavy casualties. Naval Support Activity Danang operated extensive logistics facilities on the Tiensha (Tin Sa) peninsula east of the city. Other enemy rocketeers took the Force Logistic Command compound under fire. [1]:154, Throughout the Da Nang TAOR, the intensity of activity increased during the night. I was in Danang less than a month when the Vietcong used rockets to attack the Danang Air Base for the first time in the war, on the morning of February 27. [Peter Halferty photo]. At 16:00, one of the Stingray units, using the codename Saddle Bag, situated in the mountains just south of a bend in the Thu Bn River below An Ha Combat Base, about 20 miles (32km) southwest of the Da Nang, reported observing about 75 enemy soldiers wearing helmets and some carrying mortars. *** The first time that rockets were used in RVN by the Viet Cong/North Vietnamese Army. Both Marine companies encountered heavy small-arms fire and RPGs as they approached their objectives. The fighting within the compound continued until daylight. By the afternoon of the 31st, the Marines and Rangers had completed their sweep. (AP) AP It also served to block one of the principal avenues of approach to Da Nang from the south. Rockey then directed Company G of the 3rd Marines, also attached to him, to move up along the banks of the Bau Xau River toward a blocking position southwest of the ARVN base to seal any escape route in that direction. The Allies claimed 343 PAVN/VC killed and 195 prisoners. It wrapped around the base and city. Nine USAF personnel were killed during the barrage and 128 others were wounded, 40 of them requiring hospitalization. The struggle for Hi An would continue into the following day. Today, several areas on the Da Nang Base including the loading, storage and mixing areas and Sen Lake to the north and the Pacer Ivy area at the south of the base have been confirmed to have . Behind the Marine and Korean lines, the ARVN 51st Regiment deployed in support of the South Vietnamese Revolutionary Development program. At 17:00 on 29 January, Westmoreland cancelled the truce in the entire I Corps sector. Allied intelligence officers identified members from the V-25th, R-20th, C-130th Battalions and the Q-15th and Q-16th Local Force Companies. Army advisor attached to the ARVN unit. Considering the amount of ordnance that the enemy expended, casualties were relatively small. According to the prisoner accounts, they were from the PAVN 3rd Battalion, 31st Regiment and confirmed that "Da Nang itself was the ultimate objective. Once more the PAVN/VC failed to cut the main lines of communication into Da Nang. [1]:1445, About 02:30, the PAVN/VC struck the perimeters of the Da Nang base itself. One of the companies captured a German missionary hospital in the city and the other hit the rear base of the ARVN 51st Regiment, the Chi Lng Camp, garrisoned by the ARVN 102nd Engineer Battalion. Two of the mortar attacks hit the 1st Cavalry Division helipad near the Force Logistic Command area in the Red Beach Base Area destroying two helicopters and damaging eight others and killing one U.S . In the ensuing firefight fought at a range as close as five meters from one another with the Marines achieving the upper hand. At in Bn, the 51st Regiment reinforced by the ROKMC contained the attack. He seems to think there was only one rocket attack at Da Nang in 1972. The air base at Da Nang was, therefore, a particularly enticing target. In a message to III MAF, Robertson observed "Never have so few done so much to so many. With both fixed-wing and helicopter gunships and more than 120 artillery pieces ranging from 4.2-inch mortars to 175mm guns, Robertson was confident that he could counter any threat that the enemy posed to Da Nang despite the thinness of his manned defenses. Obtenez des photos d'actualit haute rsolution de qualit sur Getty Images [1]:153, The Marines now counterattacked supported by artillery and Marine gunships and fixed-wing air. Battery A, 1st Light Antiaircraft Missile Battalion armed with MIM-23 Hawk surface-to-air missiles, in the mountainous Hi Vn Pass sector north of Da Nang, reported about 01:40 coming under 82mm mortar fire. 366th AMS, Rocket attack BX, Gunfighter Pilots. In addition, the 1st Marine Division alerted one company to participate in the relief of Hi An, if needed. Twenty rockets fell on Hill 10, manned by Battery G , 3/11 Marines which resulted in 23 casualties, including two dead. The attack force would consist of two groups, one to move by land and the other by water to knock out the bridge separating the city from Tiensha Peninsula and to capture the I Corps headquarters. As Company G began its redeployment along the river route it ran into PAVN forces attempting to retreat in that direction. Finally the PAVN broke contact at 20:00 and disappeared. Milantoni relayed the request to the air support center. Nng AB: 366th TFW: Rocket Attack! Built by the Colonial French government of Indochina in 1949, it became a training school for Vietnamese pilots. "[1]:163, Another possible explanation was that the Da Nang attack may have been a secondary assault, to cause as much damage as possible and divert Allied forces from the almost successful effort of the PAVN/VC forces to capture Hu. At Duy Xuyn, however, the PAVN/VC overran the town, forcing the district chief to flee and take refuge with the Koreans. According to intelligence reports, on 15 January, Group 44, the forward headquarters of the PAVN/VC Military Region 5, moved from the hills in western Qung Nam Province, to an advance position on G Ni Island. Firing 290 105mm shells, the tractor artillery reportedly killed about 80 of the PAVN attackers caught in the open. According to them their mission was to mine and interdict allied traffic in the Hi Vn Pass area. Da Nang Under Heavy Rocketing. According to III MAF figures, from 29 January through 14 February at Da Nang, Marines sustained 124 killed and more than 480 wounded. Under cover of darkness, elements of the VC R-20th and V-25th Battalions had crossed the Cu River and penetrated the Ha Vang village complex. Results of a rocket attack on Da Nang air base: revetment area building [1]:1534, On the night of the 30th, elements of a battalion of the PAVN 4th Regiment attacked an ARVN outpost at the foot of the Hi Vn Pass. The NVA launched hundreds of rocket attacks on DaNang Airbase trying to hit the bomb dump. The attack started at 12:25 AM and an estimated 50 rounds of 122mm rockets were fired at the installation. In the morning when searching the battle area, the Marines would find "ample evidence of enemy casualties, but only two enemy bodies." Firing from well-concealed and dug-in firing positions, the PAVN machine gunners and infantry took a heavy toll of the Marines. Moreover, once the PAVN units arrived south of Da Nang they "made no further attempts at maneuver even while being hunted by Marine and Army units, and when engaged, seldom maneuvered, except to withdraw." The artillery fired another salvo, which caused a large secondary explosion. "[1]:147[2], Shortly afterwards, Marine fixed-wing aircraft and helicopter gunships blasted the VC in Ha Vang. While Marine fixed-wing aircraft flew strike missions against the gun emplacements, another helicopter evacuated the survivors. Major General Donn J. Robertson, the 1st Marine Division commanding general, kept under his direct control the 3/5 Marines and the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines. With the departure of the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines in mid-January for Phu Bai Combat Base, the 3/7 Marines extended its area of operations to include An Hoa Combat Base to the south. Some viewers may find some scenes or audio in this archival material to be unsettling or distressing. While successfully beating back the PAVN attack, the CAP leader called for help. South Vietnamese and Korean casualties probably equalled or slightly exceeded the U.S. losses. With part of the force establishing blocking positions north of the hamlet, the rest of the provisional company and Rangers moved through Nam O. The fighting during the preceding week had drawn down the strength of the ARVN and the two Marine battalions and the PAVN 2nd Division still had uncommitted units that it could throw into the fray. 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